Multithread: 3D printed furniture illustrating the forces at work

Swedish designer Reed Kram and German designer Clemens Weisshaar designed and created Multithread, a collection of 3D printed furniture.

The design of each piece of Multithread furniture begins with a set of horizontal surfaces positioned in space: table top, shelf, desk, etc. A web of thin connecting bars is defined to support these surfaces. Then a custom software created by the designers analyzes, modifies and paints the structure based on the forces passing through it. The final form and colour of each joint is a direct representation of the energy it supports.

The connecting joints are 3D printed by the latest 3D metal printing technology: Selective Laser Melting (SLM). Tubes are CNC-cut to length and then these parts are then handed to a team of master 21st craftsmen who join the parts together and apply colours to the frame according to the computer generated finite elements calculations. Each joint is custom painted to illustrate the forces acting within it.

(Images credit: Tom Vack)

This collection of 3D printed furniture is currently on show at the Istanbul Design Biennial until 12th December.

Watch the video below that software application automatically analyses and modifies joints to support asymmetric force loads and the 3D printed pieces are custom painted to illustrate the distribution of forces in their spidery frames, while yellow colored areas under most stress: